Amaya Former CEO in More Hot Water: Faces Fraud Charges

Former Amaya CEO David Baazov is reportedly now facing fraud charges in Kenya.

Allegations arose in recent days that Baazov is being sued for embezzlement in connection with a Kenyan lottery which didn’t receive the $707,000 which it was promised.

Baazov and two other men are also accused of siphoning off Sh73 million ($707,000) of funds intended for a charity.

The lawsuit was brought forward by Lion’s Heart Self Help Group as well as one of Amaya’s own directors, Kennedy Odhiambo Nyagudi.

“NIC Bank received the funds from the lotteries through deposits, kept the funds safely in their custody and thereafter aided Amaya to disappear from the country by transferring the funds out of the country when their fraudulent conning scheme was discovered - having defrauded unsuspecting Kenyans of hundreds of millions of shillings,” Mr Nyagudi claims.

Amidst these reports, Baazov is still being investigated for his alleged role in an insider trading scheme related to PokerStars, which Amaya purchased while he was at the helm.

Prosecutors claim the former Amaya CEO traded Amaya Stock prior to the acquisition of PokerStars.

From CardChat.com:

According to the latest court filings, prosecutors contend that Baazov attempted to manipulate Amaya’s stock price prior to the poker site acquisition that would practically overnight take Amaya from bit player to one of the largest publicly traded online gaming companies in the world.

- Nagesh Rath, Gambling911.com